Akin Clarifies "Legitimate Rape" Comments: Women Make "False Claims" About Being Raped

[Harry Monroe]

Source: Think Progress

Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) announced that he will continue with his race for the U.S. Senate, during an appearance on the Mike Huckabee radio show Tuesday afternoon, and clarified his claims that women who face “legitimate rape” cannot become pregnant.

Arguing that he misplaced the word “legitimate,” Akin explained — during a follow up interview with Dana Loesch — that he meant to argue that women sometimes lie about being raped:

AKIN: You know, Dr. Willke has just released a statement and part of his letter, I think he just stated it very clearly. He said, of course Akin never used the word legitimate to refer to the rapist, but to false claims like those made in Roe v. Wade and I think that simplifies it….. There isn’t any legitimate rapist…. [I was] making the point that there were people who use false claims, like those that basically created Roe v. Wade.

Since he first made the comments over the weekend, Akin claimed that he meant to say “forcible,” rather than “legitimate” rape.

Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/08/21/721791/akin-clarifies-legitimate-rape-comments-women-ma

---

Man, is he the "gift that keeps on giving" for our party or what? I hope he "defiantly" stays in the race!! This "crash and burn" is entertaining!! If he were smart, he would just shut his mouth on the subject. As it is, he keeps putting his foot in it, and digging himself deeper and deeper!!!

[TPaine7]

1. This guy needs to resign from politics and seek a quiet place to live overseas.

He should have stopped while he was behind.

[Harry Monroe]

3. Resign? Hell no. He's like a loose slot machine that keeps paying out.

Yeah, he is offensive, but he is definitely helping our cause!! The crash and burn couldn't happen to a bigger idiot!!

[meegbear]

6. +1

[TPaine7]

14. You're right. I was thinking of his best interest; I should have been thinking of America's. n/t

[burnsei sensei]

31. +1

Let the bastard keep talking.
He's an absolute WINDFALL for the opposition!

[Hugabear]

7. Hell no. This guy speaks for the GOP, saying things they normally only say behind closed doors

This guy needs to stay in politics.

[RC]

27. Until after the election. Then retire.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Rep. Akin needs to be reminded of The First Rule Of Holes:

When you're in one, stop digging.

But as far as I'm concerned he can keep right on. I'll get him a steam shovel.

[catbyte]

4. Words fail me

The evil radiating off these bastards is breathtaking. I have gotten to the point of wishing somebody would just shove a broomstick up them and ask if they were asking for it or whether or not it was really a rape. It's the only way to get through to them. I never thought I'd write such a thing.

Sick, hateful, evil.

[SusanaMontana41]

47. You nailed it. Whether or not Akin stays in the race is irrelevant. The damage wrought

by the GOP to women is done, has been done and will be done. Akin merely is honest about it.

[Kalidurga]

5. Translation " Wymin b lyin hos."

False allegations are pretty rare. The chances that you will see a rapist go to trial are pretty slim it's basically around a 3 in 100 chance the rapist sees the inside of a court room. And that doesn't mean there will be a conviction. It's not to say it doesn't happen, but what would the motive be. Women don't have to lie about rape to get an abortion.

[heaven05]

8. roe v wade

roe v wade came about because of a rape and a need for a medical abortion? I guess i've got some research to do.

[Hugin]

15. False Claims? Roe vs Wade?

What the heck is this man rambling about? What scares me is that it's a "thing he's heard someplace" which would mean that it's a group of people who are harboring and promoting this fallacy!

[muriel_volestrangler]

38. I think it's about this - before Roe v. Wade, 'Roe' tried to claim she'd been raped

because Texas law allowed abortion for rape victims:

Why Did She Lie?

Roe had a friend that told her that, in her state, abortion was legal in cases of rape and incest. Roe tried to claim she was raped in order to qualify. This did not succeed – there was no evidence for her claims in the police records. She eventually admitted she made the whole thing up.

In fact, she was unable to procure an abortion and had her child, who was soon adopted.

I do not condone making false accusations of rape. However, I can understand why she tried. In a desperate situation, people do desperate things.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2011/08/03/false-rape-claims-and-abortion-how-to-make-everything-better/

This didn't 'create Roe. V. Wade', however; Roe. v. Wade was about acknowledging the right of a woman, raped or not, to an abortion.

[Hugin]

45. Yes, ensuring the Woman's Rights is the bottom line here...

Oh, and a Right to many other things the Right Wing seeks to cloister from "The Help."

[TBF]

9. The thing is - he is not alone.

This is the platform of the republican party with their anti-abortion zealots. It's not like he's some outlier or something ...

The NY Times addresses this today:

Health Experts Dismiss Assertions on Rape
By PAM BELLUCK
Published: August 20, 2012

Representative Todd Akin’s assertion that women who are victims of “legitimate rape” rarely get pregnant provoked outrage across the political spectrum, but the views he articulated are far from new in anti-abortion circles.

The idea that during rape, “the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down” to prevent pregnancy, as Mr. Akin said, has surfaced periodically among anti-abortion advocates over the past two decades, usually involving the term “forcible rape” to refer to what Mr. Akin called “legitimate.”

Dr. John C. Willke, a general practitioner with obstetric training and a former president of the National Right to Life Committee, was an early proponent of this view, articulating it in a book originally published in 1985 and again in a 1999 article. He reiterated it in an interview Monday.

“This is a traumatic thing — she’s, shall we say, she’s uptight,” Dr. Willke said of a woman being raped, adding, “She is frightened, tight, and so on. And sperm, if deposited in her vagina, are less likely to be able to fertilize. The tubes are spastic.”

Leading experts on reproductive health, however, dismissed this logic.

“There are no words for this — it is just nuts,” said Dr. Michael Greene, a professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology at Harvard Medical School ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/21/us/politics/rape-assertions-are-dismissed-by-health-experts.html

[meow2u3]

40. Another rape-denying quack who peddles medieval lies about women

He must belong to the same hate group as Akin, rAyn, Rmoney, and the right-to-rape movement.

[rocktivity]

10. Rocktivity Clarifies: Accused Rapists make false claims About 'Consensual Sex'

rocktivity

[wordpix]

20. good one, rocktivity, rock on!

[meow2u3]

41. Amen!

Projection, anyone? So-called men like him and his hate group allies think rape is about sex when in fact it's about power, control, and violence.

If the brute couldn't rape her, he'd probably beat her to within an inch of her life.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

11. Abortion is legal. Why the need to cry "rape"? They're so riled up by their own rhetoric,

that they can't think straight to save their lives.

[christx30]

35. Because in their

fantasy world, abortion will be illegal for every reason, every claim, every time. Women won't be able to get one after a rape because they are worried that a woman will falsely claim rape just to get one.

[truthisfreedom]

12. Wow. What's next, crazy people? We can't wait.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

13. It's only their claim to be God's spokespeople that this is a question at all.

[LynneSin]

16. Really? Can you open your mouth just a bit wider so we can get more of the foot in it

[nolabear]

17. 1) Men. 2) Fetuses. 3) Other Men. 4) More men. 5) Women (maybe)

GOP Hierarchy of importance.

[ieoeja]

18. Welcome to the Bible Belt.

Bible Belt Sex 101 : I hate it when doc puts on the rubber glove and grabs the lube.

Most men do not care for rectal exams. Therefore, women must not enjoy vaginal penetration. Most of them just tolerate it. So while forcible rape is a horribly evil thing, if the woman isn't all beat up, it must mean this was one of those times she chose to let it happen, and it's not rape if she made that choice.


Bible Belt Sex 102 : You Should Maintain a "Virginal" Soul Before Marriage

A rape victim who has never had consensual sex is still considered "virgin" in a moral sense. So you can always let your boyfriends make love to you. Just never, ever speak the word, "yes". Call it "rape", and you can still be a virgin when you marry.


Akin represents a lot of people. And they undoubtedly believe that 90% of us agree with them, but are too afraid of political correctness to speak out. They surely view the current controversy as further proof of the "feminization of America". Fortunately for Romney, they already thought he was a wimp. So speaking out against Akin probably won't hurt him with that base.

[vanlassie]

19. And they also believe witches float.

[chloes1]

21. Amazing... just amazing do you suppose this guy can

chew gum and walk at the same time?

So, he's saying that because some women lie about rape, we should doubt all women who state they were raped?

By that logic then, because some innocent people are convicted of crimes they did not commit, we shouldn't penalize anybody convicted of crimes. Right?? The right wing's logic confuses me.

[Politicub]

22. He the collective republican mind in the form of a person

Keep talking, Akin.

[wordpix]

23. "he meant to argue that women sometimes lie about being raped"---Whattttt?

Oh, yeah, women love to lie about being raped b/c they get to speak to the police, go to the hospital to be checked out, put their feet up in the stirrups---all that is so much fun that women lie about being raped, just so they can have access to those fun activities.

This shows Akin hates women.

[maxrandb]

25. Why would they need to lie

when it's an obvious scientifically verified fact that their lady parts secrete a secretion that "shuts that whole thing down" during rape?

[wordpix]

26. good point but Akin can't figure this out b/c he's stooopid

[maxrandb]

24. By that logic

Gun owners make false claims about why they need a gun, therefore all guns should be banned.

Oh, I almost forgot. Gun rights have been ajudicated and decided by the Supreme Court and are the "law of the land"....hey Wait a minute....

[barnabas63]

29. +1 nt

[Solly Mack]

28. Oh, fuck that idiot.

Him and everyone who thinks like him.

[treestar]

30. So now he's adding a second ridiculous statement

It sheds now light on his silly concept that a raped woman cannot get pregnant. It just adds insult to injury.

[Solly Mack]

32. Right-wingers make false claims. Period.

Yes, I posted twice.

[Shampoobra]

33. No one is this stupid. Therefore...

...logic dictates that Todd Akin does not exist.

[christx30]

36. Need to be careful

The universe will know that stupidity of Akin's exists and shut itself down to protect itself.

[Kablooie]

34. He really thinks that his word choice was the only problem.

He has no awareness that his whole premise was the real problem.
His unusual word choice highlighted the issue but is not why the statement is so offensive.

[lunatica]

37. He's just another poster boy showing the importance of sex education

It doesn't surprise me that people his age are so ignorant about sex. Their sex education came from the woeful ignorance of their peers. He's expressing all the same bullshit that children first learn about sex from their equally ignorant friends. In his day no parent would ever talk about sex, although I don't think the parents knew any facts either.

When trying to fathom the stupid it helps to know these things.

[Macoy51]

39. What’s next?

You know, I never would have believed it if someone would have told me a month ago a congressman would have dug himself this deep in to a hole. And the fact that he keeps digging makes it even more unbelievable.

What’s next? A statement that most rape victims were asking for it?




Macoy

[lunatica]

44. They always blame the victims

They've been doing that for centuries.

[SylviaD]

42. Akin is below scum. nt

[Odin2005]

43. Keep digging, asshole!

[Mr.Bill]

46. The saddest part

Is that some unfortunate woman is married to him and they have children. I feel sorry for his family.